It has been asked why the bad guy in (chiefly American) movies always speaks with an English accent.¹ The answer has to do with two interlocking concepts: that of stereotype and that of the connotations of the English accent in America.

The Power and Convenience of Stereotypes

Most of the biggest-grossing Hollywood movies, for all their merits, are generally not replete with plotlines driven by unique or complex characters. The age of such productions as Lawrence of Arabia, in which the character of one of the most fascinating men ever to have lived is explored over the course of nearly four hours of film, is decidedly over. Today's moviegoing audiences won't stand for it, and even if they would, the big movie producion houses are rarely willing to take the risk. They prefer to populate their movies with characters that are instantly recognizable: The Down-and-out Little Brother, the Amusing Ethnic Guy, and the Tough, Bitchy Battleaxe Who Is Revealed To Be Warm-Hearted At The End, Coming To The Aid Of Our Less Experienced Heroine. These are stereotypes, massive distillations of recognizable trends and tendencies. You may know people like this, but stereotypes will have none of the uniqueness that makes the individual, real battleaxes and ethnic guys you know real and individual. Stereotypes provide the audience with prepackaged characters, often accessorized with easily recognizable motivations and predictable one-liners, sparing everone (producers and audience both) the need to develop and understand a unique persona. With the valuable screen minutes thus saved, moviemakers can add more explosions and gratuitous sex scenes.

One stereotypical character you've probably never met in real life is the Evil Genius. And this presents a problem for filmmakers.

The English Accent in America

The solution they came up with was admirably clever. Drawing on the legends of such gentlemanly criminals as Edward Pierce, and combining them with the American perception of the English accent², the Sophisticated Evil Genius was born, to populate villainous roles in film on countless occasions.

The accent most commonly employed in this manner is Received Pronunciation (or RP). This and other English accents, and sometimes even Scottish or Welsh accents as well³, in America have a ring of sophistication and intelligence. This association possibly stems from frontier times, when among the rough and tumble talk of the wild west the less altered speak of genteel folks from the east stuck out conspicuously. It may have to do with the general impression of Great Britain as the 'Old World' a place of tradition and schooling and nobility. Also, the concept of the British as the 'old masters' and British influence as an unjust yoke to be thrown off is deeply engrained in the US cultural history. In any case, though most Americans don't know what RP is, it sounds smart to them.

Star Wars: a Case Study

The original Star Wars trilogy⁵ is an interesting case. On the side of evil we have the Empire, whose officers sound quite British. The baddest of the bad, however, is Darth Vader, voiced by James Earl Jones, an American. It is interesting to note, though, that casting Jones was a decision that came late in the film and he merely overdubbed the lines of the British actor who played Darth Vader. Also, Vader was redeemed at the end of The Return of the Jedi, and imperial officers were not. On the side of good, most of the characters had American accents, including the über-American, space cowboy Han Solo. But there is an exception here, as well. Sir Alec Guinness gives the role of Obi-wan Kenobi his most deliciously wise English voice. He can be seen as the remnant of the old order, a mentor guiding our young brash hero, and still be quite in line with the prevailing stereotypes.

History of the Villainous Accent in American Film

In previous times, Hollywood stars were American, while character actors came everywhere else. Your American star carried the film, and never played a villain because it might tarnish their image. The role of the villain was handed to a stock of character actors. Any US actor wanting to be a star some day might avoid the villain role, whereas British character actors have always been more flexible.

The same applied with crossing media. Once an American actor broke into films, it used to be seen as career death to go back to TV, but this limitation was rarely applied to the British.

The English accent in film has had a unique history. The casting of bad guys has often been politically motivated. During the first half of the century, they often had German accents, and during the Cold War, the thrillers of the era naturally had Russian bad guys. However, never since film has become a popular medium has there been an overt political need to cast Britons as baddies. As mentioned above, the connotations of the accent come from centuries of anti-imperialistic fashionable thought. Even so, modern Americans don't necessarily associate modern Britons with the big, bad Empire of yesteryear. It's the accent that's seen as evil, not the nationality.⁶ It has become merely a stereotypical way of indicating the bad guy, a job once done by white and black cowboy hats or the glow of a cigarette in a dark alley.

While some people who speak with British accents in real life find this phenomenon offensive and yet another example of American arrogance, others see it differently. To quote one researcher:

As an Englishman born and bred I have to say that I'm quite fond of the American tendency to cast my countrymen as the villain of the piece. He might always fall foul of the hero and/or his own devious plots at the end of the film, but he always gets the best lines and brings an impeccable style to the dance that you just can't get with a US accent. Alan Rickman, Charles Dance, Jeremy Irons and many others always steal the scene away from the likes of Kevin Costner, Bruce Willis and Tom Hanks every time.

Some Movies Featuring English-sounding Baddies

• Gone in Sixty Seconds
• Pocahontas
• Tango and Cash
• The Aristocats
• Alan Rickman in Die Hard
• Alan Rickman in Help! I'm a fish
• Alan Rickman in Quigley Down Under
• Alan Rickman in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
• Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs
• Basil Rathbone in Anna Karenina
• Basil Rathbone in David Copperfield
• Basil Rathbone in Son of Frankenstein
• Basil Rathbone in The Mark of Zorro
• Ben Kingsley in Sneakers
• Betty Lou Gerson in 101 Dalmations
• Boris Karloff in Frankenstein
• Charles Dance in Last Action Hero
• Christopher Lee in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
• Christopher Lee in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• Claude Rains in Notorious
• David Bowie in Labyrinth
• David Warner in Titanic
• Dougray Scott in Mission: Impossible 2
• George Sanders in Rebecca
• George Sanders in Disney's The Jungle Book
• James Mason in North by Northwest
• James Mason in Salem's Lot
• James Mason in The Verdict
• Jeremy Irons in Die Hard With a Vengeance
• Jeremy Irons in The Lion King
• John Lithgow in Cliffhanger
• John Lithgow in Shrek
• Jonathan Hyde in Jumanji
• Joss Ackland in Lethal Weapon 2
• Pam Ferris in Matilda
• Patrick Stewart in Conspiracy Theory
• Peter Cushing in Star Wars
• Pierce Brosnan in Mrs. Doubtfire
• Ray Milland in Dial M for Murder
• Richard Attenborough in Jurassic Park
• Richard O Brian in Dark City
• Robert Carlyle in Ravenous
• Robert Carlyle in The World is Not Enough
• Sean Connery in The Avengers
• Sir Ian McKellen in X-Men
• Stephen Berkhoff in Beverly Hills Cop
• Tim Curry in The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Tim Roth in Pulp Fiction
• Timothy Dalton in The Shadow
• Tom Wilkinson in Rush Hour

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